Faith of the Allfather
History The Faith of the Allfather is a variant of Christianity that incorporates Germanic myths, traditions, and even deities, to the point where the Syrian church does not even recognize the Faith of the Allfather as Christian. The Faith's believers venerate Thor, who sacrificed himself to save humanity of their sins. The Faith originated in fifth century Nornidr, in Northern Italy, and spread northwards quite rapidly, aided by no shortage of missionary activity, into the Germanic tribes of Central Europe, where it is fast becoming the dominant religion there; after its holiest temple, in Meduseld, was destroyed by the Latins in the mid-sixth century, an initiate-turned-refugee named the Gudrekkr revived it in Gaul and created an Allfatherist theocratic state, the Guthlid, hardening the Faith's core, though its fringes are not all pleased with this development. Teachings Creation Myth: At the dawn of time, God the All-father slew the giant Mangi. From the giant’s blood he fashioned the oceans and from his bones he carved the rock of the nine worlds. With this work done, he plucked each of the giant’s eyes out, and they became the two ravens Thought and Memory. Together, they wandered the worlds, hoping to find something. Eventually, as they neared the the corpse of the slain giant, God grew to be lonely, accompanied as he was by nothing but his thoughts and memories. Reaching into the rotting corpse, God grasped the giant’s hearts and willed it aflame. He set it into the sky, and it became the sun. Now, God could truly see the spread of the worlds he had created, and again he was struck by the loneliness of it all. On the first day, God created the world tree, to bind all the worlds together. On the second day, he created the angels, and split them into two groups, the Asur and Vanur. To the Asur, he granted dominion over all things physical and solid, and to the Vanur, he gave dominion over all things that grew, from the grass on the ground to time itself. The greatest of the Asur was the Morning Star, Loki, but nearly his equals were the guardians of heaven Himdal, Mikal, who governed the lands, and Raggal,. Many more Asur exist, but those are the most important. God took Raggal as his wife, and begat many more Asur. Following his example, the other Asur also took wives and begat more asur. The Greatest of the Vanur was Njordr, who had dominion over all the oceans of the world. His two children were Frej and Freja, who were known, after Loki, to be the most beautiful things in all of creation. So Beautiful was Freja, in fact, that the dwarf Gandalf sought to recreate her beauty and made moonlight. For a time, there was peace between Heaven, the domain of the Asur, and Vanheim, domain of the Vanur. But, as all creatures are imperfect, eventually disharmony arose. Wars were fought, and time and time again, God intervened. There were heroes on both sides, and many tragedies. Finally, to end the wars, God made the Asur and Vanur one. Seeing that the Asur were still imperfect, God tried again, making the Alfar, lesser beings to the Asur, but still much greater than humans would be. They were given immortality, but, like the Asur before them, they were ultimately a part of God and not their own. To them, he gave the world of Alfheim. This was the third day. Loki became great friends with the Alfar, teaching them many crafts, such as writing, forging, and magic and to love God. But, as Loki walked amongst the Alfar, the seed of jealousy grew in his heart. Surely, he who was second only to the All-father could also create something as great as the alfar. On the fourth day, Loki crafted the giants, and the dwarves. However, they did not have true life, as only that was a gift able to be given by God. Loki wept over his creations, and his tears became the stars in the heaven. God heard his weeping and found Loki standing over his lifeless creations. Angered though he was that Loki had tried to take the place of God, he was moved to pity, and bade Loki chose which of his creations he wished most to see alive. Loki chose the dwarves, and the All-father breathed life into them. They awoke, and immediately loved god, for he had given them life when they should not have. Once God was gone, Loki, who was angered at the dwarves abandonment of him, stole half the life God had bestowed upon them, and gave it to the Giants. As such, both dwarves and giants are only half alive, missing a crucial part of their being. Dwarves and Giants have hated each other ever since. On the fifth day, Loki travelled amongst the Asur and the Alfar, helping some, hindering others. He became known as a trickster, though many loved him, for he brought down many tyrants and put up those oppressed. Loki and his followers approached God, asking him to bestow the ability to create life upon all of them. Unfortunately, this was a gift the All-father could not give, for even he did not know how he gave life, only that he could. Loki, in anger, drew his sword on god and struck him, blinding him in one eye. For this, he was cast down out of heaven and into the abyss, where many of his followers joined him. As he fell, he cursed God and all of his creations, foretelling Ragnarok, the end times. God was saddened, as he knew the truth of Loki’s words. Loki came to the world at the bottom of the World Tree, and became its king. Saddened, God tried to create life one last time. Reaching into Mangi’s almost completely rotten corpse, he took a handful of the giant’s brain. Crafting it into his own image, he breathed life into the first man and woman, Ask and Eva. Though mortal, for they were made from the rotting flesh, they were nearest to God, for they could create in ways that no other creature could. For a time, they lived in heaven, and so did their children and children’s children, but Loki crept to them in the shape of a horned serpent. He spoke to them, and befriended them. But his words carried the taint of corruption, which all of humanity has had since. This corruption finally forced God to expel humans from heaven, as they could not longer live there. He promised them that one day he would send his son and that this son would lead them back to Heaven. He gave humans middle earth, and they soon grew to rule it. Heresies Most heresies of the Faith of the Allfather stem from political differences rather than doctrinal or theological ones. Allmother Eldraachan attempt to keep their cultural distinctiveness in the face of the Guthlid